MacBros' Place

Well, last night when I got home to check to see if PayPal deposited some money into my bank account I was shocked to see three separate NSF charges of $40 each. So a total of $120 was taken from my account in NSF fees. $120 for $22 worth of debit attempts for money that wasn’t there.

Why do banks charge you for money they already know you don’t have?

Not what I had expected. I was expecting to see money deposited that I earned from selling something, not charges for funds not available!

As it turns out, after a bit of investigating, that on Saturday night when my nephew was over, he tried to charge my PayPal account $7.50 three times for a Membership for his RuneScape Online game. He tried two extra times because the transaction didn’t go through the first time, because my bank account was empty and I had no funds in my PayPal account.

I fell asleep early watching TV, and he stayed up till God knows when. I don’t know how he managed to know my PayPal Password?? But lesson learned. I just finished changing it to something else. So hopefully that will take care of that. I’ll also be waiting for his user name and password so I can go into his account and remove anything related to my PayPal account. Or maybe he asked me if he could but I was sleeping and I might have mumbled something in my sleep that sounded like, “Yea, sure there little buddy. You go right ahead and charge money to my account that I don’t have!” LOL

So this is a lesson learned. Always change your passwords, or something like this will happen.

Thankfully I have some call center experience and know how t o talk to agents and use keywords.

I called and questioned the charges and they told me it was PayPal (this is how I actually found out that my nephew was the culprit), I said I didn’t authorize these transactions. The agent did her little spiel and said it was PayPal I had to take this up with and that it isn’t a banking error. Just like she is supposed to.

I know she’s just doing her job and she did a good one at that. Some people would lose their temper at this point, but I know that gets you nowhere fast.

I asked her if she could remove the charges, and she said she couldn’t because it is not a banking error. Again, most people would probably start using colorful language and take it out on the agent. But that does absolutely nothing and gets you nowhere. She’s just doing what she is supposed to do.

I asked (politely) to speak to her supervisor. Then explained the same thing I said to the agent, and then added that the agent did a good job. The supervisor said that the charges are because of PayPal and aren’t a bank error. This is probably another point that most people would EXPLODE and go nuts, but that won’t do you any good. I remained calm and professional and simply asked, “Is there something you could do for me? Could you remove these charges as a customer loyalty credit or something?”

The keywords ‘customer’ and ‘loyalty’ are usually something you have to say as they can’t just come out and offer this to you. And usually if this is the customers first instance, as it was in my case, they will make the adjustment. But you’ll also get the whole, “This will be a one time adjustment and if there are any charges in the future you will be responsible for them.” line. Which I agree to, of course. And if it does happen again, I’ll be the idiot that let it happen again and it would be my fault.

The supervisor said he would make the adjustment, but it will take 3 business days. So I’m flat broke till Monday!

These people have to put up with tons of people calling them with complaints and problems, and having somebody call in and act like an asshole is going to instantly put them in a mode of, “I don’t give a shit about you!” and you will probably more pissed off than you were before you called. They are not likely to be of any help. If they get a call from somebody that is polite, it will bring their defenses down and communication is %100 better.

I just wish everybody who called me at work would follow my words.

Anyway, That money I was looking for to be deposited INTO my account did go in. But unfortunately, not enough to cover the overdraft. So I’m FUBAR till Monday. And my password has been changed too .